Cape Town – After violence plagued the B97 minibus-taxi route from Mbekweni (Paarl) to Bellville, forcing the hand of Western Cape MEC of mobility, Daylin Mitchell, to close the route last year, an agreement has been reached with the taxi associations which will see the route reopened.
On Monday, leaders of the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) and Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) signed an agreement on sharing the B97 route, following discussions with local government.
“In July 2021, I invoked my powers in terms of section 91 of the National Land Transport Act (Act no 5 of 2009) to close the route following several incidents of violent conflict and the loss of lives.
“This decision was taken in consultation with the affected municipalities, the SAPS, and regulatory stakeholders given the fact that the safety of passengers had degenerated to an unacceptable level.
“The current closure period comes to an end on September 25, 2022. In consultation with the affected municipalities, we invested a considerable amount of time, funding, and resources into mediation efforts prior to closing the route,” Mitchell said.
Taxi operations along this route were also the subject of an arbitration process.
The arbitration award was released in November 2021, and Mitchell said his department made a concerted effort to give effect to the arbitration outcome.
The arbitrator ruled that both Cata Boland Taxi Association and the Paarl Alliance Taxi Association (affiliated to the Codeta region) had legal rights to trade on route B97.
Since the award was issued, several discussions with the provincial executive committee of the Western Cape brand of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), Cata and Codeta regional taxi councils, and the two affected primary taxi associations.
“I want to commend the industry leadership for their commitment to this peace process.
“I am pleased that this agreement has been reached by the primary associations and Cata and Codeta regions in respect of minibus-taxi operations on route B97. Both parties have agreed, in line with the arbitration award, to co-exist and to provide bi-directional services.
“In terms of the agreement, operating licences will be apportioned on an equal basis (50/50) between the two associations commensurate to the demand for services as shown in the transportation plans for the area.
“Both associations have committed to stop recruiting new members in excess of passenger demand and to desist from allowing illegal operators to trade on route B97,” Mitchell said.
He said the Drakenstein Municipal Council had resolved to support new operating licences in respect of route B97 to create a more equitable balance between demand and supply.
An agreement was reached with the affected associations to start the application process.
For now, the route will remain closed until the regulatory process has been finalised.
“Details of the closure period will be shared in due course.
“It should be noted that the replacement Golden Arrow bus service will continue to operate in parallel to the taxi service post the re-opening of the route until all bus tickets/clip-cards have expired,” Mitchell added.
Speaking to IOL, Codeta spokesperson Andile Khayi said it was the right time for everyone involved to bring peace and stability to the B97 route.
He said this would allow all parties involved to operate freely.
Khayi said the closure of the route led to the taxi industry losing a lot of money and that this agreement was a win for all parties involved.
“We quite happy that operations will resume as normal. We are very sorry about what happened, especially to the passengers as we know that when we fight the passengers lost confidence in the taxi industry. We do apologise.
“We are moving forward and we will ensure peace and stability in that area. There will be no more violence. That is what we are hoping for,” Khayi told IOL.